Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has said that Poland would like be allowed the choice of which refugees to accept from hotspots in Italy and Greece.

A migrant disembarks from a ferry coming from the Greek islands of the north-eastern Aegean sea in the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, 08 March 2016. Photo: EPA/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU

Asked by Italian daily Corriere della Sera whether Poland will accept the 7,000 refugees it was assigned in line with a EU programme to relocate asylum seekers from Italy and Greece, Waszczykowski said: “Yes, but under certain conditions.”

He added that the country will not accept “immigrants forced to come to Poland against their will.”

Poland is negotiating to be allowed to decide which asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea will be assigned to the country. It has already been granted access to so-called hotspots in Greece, but Italian authorities have not given the green light.

“No forced relocation,” Waszczykowski said, repeating what he said during a meeting in Rome on Monday with his Italian counterpart, Paolo Gentiloni. (rg/pk)